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Foundational Texts

While these may not be referred to directly by faculty, these materials provide foundational information and knowledge for SLP study and practice. The USC Libraries subscribe to or own many other books; search the catalog to find holdings. Use Interlibrary Loan to order books and articles not owned by the USC Libraries.

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• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/slp

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End-of-Life Care Considerations for the Speech-Language Pathologist

First Edition

Treatment Resource Manual for Speech-Language Pathology

Seventh Edition

Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology: A Resource Manual

Handbook on children's speech: development, disorders, and variations, goal setting in speech-language pathology: a guide to clinical reasoning, the communication disorders casebook: learning by example.

Second Edition

Treatment Companion: A Speech-Language Pathologist's Intervention Guide for Students With Developmental Delays and Disorders

Tracheostomy and ventilator dependence in adults and children: learning through cases studies, case studies in pediatric dysphagia, grammar guide for speech-language pathologists: steps to analyzing complex syntax, supporting individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication: breaking down opportunity barriers, improving speech intelligibility in adults: clinical application of evidence-based strategies, the slp entrepreneur: the speech-language pathologist’s guide to private practice and other business ventures, telepractice: a clinical guide for speech-language pathologists, here's how to do therapy: hands on core skills in speech-language pathology.

Third Edition

ECHO: A Vocal Language Program for Easing Anxiety in Conversation

Aac for all: culturally and linguistically responsive practice, treating selective mutism as a speech-language pathologist, remediation of /r/ for speech-language pathologists, respiratory muscle strength training.

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10 Must-Have Textbooks for Adult Speech Therapy

 7 min read

When you’re in grad school, all textbooks look the same: required. You spend a fortune (usually borrowed money) and read as little as you have to in order to pass the test. Then real life hits. You have patients with problems you’ve never seen, and you need help. You rush back to those textbooks to find answers, but you only have one or two that actually deal with adult communication. So what now?

I recommend that you buy a few new textbooks for yourself. Not because they’re required, but because they’re useful. Sure, there’s a lot of information available online, but nowhere will you find everything laid out as clearly and comprehensively as you will in a book.

Here are my top 10 recommendations for speech pathology textbooks (all published in 2010 or later) you’ll really  want  to read once you’re working in the field of adult communication disorders:

Textbooks on Aphasia

1) manual of aphasia and aphasia therapy, by nancy helm-estabrooks, martin l. albert, & marjorie nicholas; 2013 (3rd ed.).

Want to know what to do for perseveration? Wernicke’s aphasia? improving non-verbal expression? This book has 16 chapters dedicated to specific treatment procedures, along with just as much content explaining foundations, assessment, and goal-setting for aphasia. It truly is a manual for aphasia treatment, and it is frequently referenced in our  “How To” articles  that makes many of these treatments more accessible. (The book also comes with a DVD, but sadly, I no longer have a DVD drive available to use it.)

[*affiliate link)

2) Aphasia Rehabilitation: Clinical Challenges

By patrick coppens & janet patterson; 2017 (1st ed.).

This newer book gets at the tough cases: perseveration, paraphasia, agrammatism. It tackles real-life challenges: intensity, motivation, and incorporating EBP. This is an advanced text for practicing clinicians that helps you problem-solve the questions you have in daily clinical life. While I don’t own it yet, it’s at the top of my wish list.

[*affiliate link]

Textbooks on Cognitive-Communication

3) optimizing cognitive rehabilitation: effective instructional methods, by mckay moore sohlberg & lyn turkstra; 2011 (1st ed.).

If you work in brain injury rehab, you need to have this book. It shows you how to teach someone to use a strategy, rather than just telling you which strategies to use. SLPs are rarely given enough training in educational methods, especially those who study for a medical career. I know my practice changed after hearing the authors speak on this topic and after reading this book. I bet yours will too.

4) The Right Hemisphere and Disorders of Cognition and Communication: Theory and Clinical Practice

By margaret lehman blake; 2017 (1st ed.).

Right hemisphere disorders are often missed and go untreated. But if you catch one, what do you do? Dr. Blake offers the first textbook dedicated to the topic. While there is not a huge literature base for treating right hemisphere disorders after stroke or brain injury, she offers what is known to help clinicians better manage these patients.

5) Cognitive Rehabilitation Manual: Translating Evidence-Based Recommendations into Practice

By edmund c. haskins et al.; 2012 (1st ed.).

Clinicians swear by this book, filled with evidence-based treatments for brain injury. Each research-based intervention is broken down into step-by-step directions for rehab professionals (SLP, OT, Psych). If you want more training in these techniques, there are  in-person and online courses  that include the manual offered through ACRM.

6) Dementia: Person-Centered Assessment and Intervention

By ellen hickey & michelle bourgeois; 2017 (2nd ed.).

I don’t remember even hearing the word “dementia” in my graduate training, and yet there are SLPs for whom people with dementia comprise nearly 100% of their caseload. Too often, the restorative techniques that apply to brain injury and stroke are applied to those with dementia, which can result in frustration all around as degenerative disorders need a different approach. Drs. Hickey and Bourgeois offer amazing advice in their newly updated textbook to help SLPs assess and treat people with dementia in a more appropriate and effective way.

Bonus Pick: Not a speech textbook, but a manual for practicing rehab clinicians,  A Clinician’s Guide to Successful Evaluation and Treatment of Dementia  published by Northern Speech Services in 2016 is a handy reference for SLPs, OTs, and PTs working in skilled nursing facilities.

Textbooks on Dysarthria

7) motor speech disorders: substrates, differential diagnosis, and management, by joseph r. duffy; 2012 (3rd ed.).

This is an updated version of the Duffy textbook I would have been required to buy, had I opted to take the Motor Speech Disorders elective in my program. That’s right: elective. That means I got out into the world with no clue how to diagnose or treat dysarthria. I borrowed this book from a colleague and embarked on some serious self-study. This book is the go-to resource for dysarthria diagnosis with lots of helpful charts for characteristics for differential diagnosis. There are helpful bonus features online so you can actually hear the different features.

8) Management of Motor Speech Disorders in Children and Adults

By kathryn m. yorkston, david r. beukelman, edythe a. strand, & mark hakel; 2010 (3rd ed.).

This was the first textbook I bought that wasn’t required as I realized I needed help in actually treating dysarthria. A whole book dedicated to treatment! It complements the Duffy textbook nicely, as that one is primarily focused on diagnosis. If you don’t know what to do when treating motor speech disorders (apraxia included), this would be a great addition to your bookshelf for quick reference.

Textbooks on AAC

9) supporting communication for adults with acute and chronic aphasia, by nina simmons-mackie, julia king, & david beukelman; 2013 (1st ed.).

Oh, how I wish this book were required reading for anyone working with people with aphasia. Many clinicians will confess they do not feel confident with AAC, and many ask “what’s the best AAC app for aphasia?” This book will help you understand that the best AAC is often not an app or device, but rather a variety of tools and strategies that support adults in communication. I hope there is an update coming that will better address the range of technology options that are now available, but this is a great lifeline for clinicians who feel lost.

Textbooks on Counseling

10) counseling in communication disorders: a wellness perspective, by audrey holland & ryan nelson; 2018 (3rd ed.).

Every patient with a communication disorder needs education and counseling at some point, often frequently. This is the book that will help you provide the right kind of support at the right time. Dr. Audrey Holland explains the positive psychology approach along with updated research in this brand new edition of a classic book.

Honorable Mentions:

A) Aphasia and Related Neurogenic Communication Disorders  by Ilias Papathanasiou & Patrick Coppens; 2016 (2nd Ed.) [*affiliate link]

B) Aphasia and Other Acquired Neurogenic Language Disorders: A Guide for Clinical Excellence  by Brooke Hallowell; 2017 (1st Ed.) [*affiliate link]

C) Language Intervention Strategies in Aphasia and Related Neurogenic Communication Disorders   by Roberta Chapey; 2008 (5th Ed.) [*affiliate link]

Excellent books for students and new clinicians that cover many aspects of all acquired communication disorders from theory to assessment to treatment. If you’re a student using these books in your coursework, hang on to them for your professional reference library. They are perhaps a bit too broad for a new purchase by practicing clinicians, but they are filled with valuable information written by top experts in the field. If you are new to the area of adult communication and want just one book to refresh on all areas, then these are for you.

But What About Dysphagia Textbooks?

I know that medical SLPs need to know a LOT about swallowing disorders, and that’s why we created our  Dysphagia Therapy  app. My passion is communication, so that is what I spend my time reading about.  I happen to have some wonderful colleagues who specialize in dysphagia, so I refer you to Theresa Richard’s  top recommendations for dysphagia textbooks .

A “Textbook” for Families

Finally, if you are a family member or loved one of a person living with a communication disorder, you may want to learn as much as you can to help the person in your life. You don’t need a professional textbook to help just one person, but you may benefit from reading stories of other people in your situation.  Healing the Broken Brain: Leading Experts Answer 100 Questions about Stroke Recovery  is an excellent place to start if a stroke has hit your family.

* We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com. If you are interested in the products above, please use these links to help support this site. We will only share products that we believe to be truly useful or evidence-based.

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Megan S. Sutton , MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and co-founder of Tactus Therapy. She is an international speaker, writer, and educator on the use of technology in adult medical speech therapy. Megan believes that technology plays a critical role in improving aphasia outcomes and humanizing clinical services.

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Top 10 Dysphagia Education Resources for Clinicians

Best practice in swallowing disorders is changing quickly as the science evolves. Keep up with the latest information with these 10 amazing resources for professional development in dysphagia.

 6 min read

Essential Continuing Education Services for Medical Speech Pathologists

Continuing education is a requirement for medical speech-language pathologists to provide the best rehabilitation services to their patients. Here are 3 ways to get it.

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Audiology & Speech Pathology

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The common theme among these books is that they all relate to audiology, speech pathology, and language development. They cover topics such as the anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing, assessment and treatment of communication disorders in children, American Sign Language (ASL), motor speech disorders, and autism spectrum disorder. Many of these books are comprehensive guides for professionals or students in the field, while others are geared towards parents looking to help their children with communication difficulties.

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Best Books for Speech Therapy Providers [+Printable List]

Fiction speech-language pathology books.

• House Rules  by Jodi Piccoult (autism)
• Love Anthony  by Lisa Genova (autism)
• The Rosie Effect  by Graeme Simsion  (autism)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  by Mark Haddon (autism)
• Paperboy  by Vince Vawter (fluency)
• Deaf Sentence  by David Lodge   (hearing loss)
• Inside the O’Briens  by Lisa Genova (Huntington’s disease)
• Left Neglected  by Lisa Genova (traumatic brain injury)
• Still Alice  by Lisa Genova (dementia; adult neuro)
• Wonder  by R. J. Palacio  (not directly related to SLP; disability / difference)
• Ghost Boy  by Martin Pistorius (disability)
• Oliver Kitterage  by Elizabeth Strout   (disability)
• What Alice Forgot  by Liane Moriarty  (related to SLP)
• Jewel  by Bret Lott   (Down Syndrome)
• Out of My Mind  by Sharon M. Draper   (CP)
• Icy Sparks  by Gwyn Hyman Rubio (Tourettes)

​Non-Fiction Speech-Language Pathology Books

• 30 Million Words by Dana Suskind (language)
• Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children From Failed Educational Theories by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
• Carly’s Voice: Breaking Through Autism by Arthur Fleischmann (autism)
• A Friend Like Ben by Julia Romp (autism)
• NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman (autism)
• The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen Year Old with Autism by Naoki Higashida (autism)
• Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s   by John Elder Robison  (autism)
• The Boy Who Loved Windows: Opening The Heart And Mind Of A Child Threatened With Autism by Patricia Stacey (autism)
• Be Different: My Adventures with Asperger’s and My Advice for Fellow Aspergians, Misfits, Families, and Teachers by John Elder Robison  (autism)
• Uniquely Human: A Different Way if Seeing Autism by Barry Prizant  (autism)
• Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter’s Life with Autism   by Clara Claiborne Park   (autism)
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Radioman (cultural fluency)
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (cultural fluency)
• Schuyler’s Monster: A Father’s Journey with his Wordless Daughter by Robert Rummel-Hudson  (disability)
• Out With It by Katherine Preston (fluency; memoir)
• Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan  (disability)
• Keeping Katherine: A Mother’s Journey to Acceptance by Susan Zimmermann   (Rhett syndrome)
• Like Sound Through Water: A Mother’s Journey Through The Auditory Processing Disorder by Karen J. Foli (ADP, disability)
• When Breath Becomes Air  by Paul Kalanithi (disability; cancer)
• Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon  (disability)
• Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World by Leah Hager Cohen (hearing loss)
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks (neuro)
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (AAC; aphasia; adult neuro)
• 100 Names for Love amzn.to/2s3MWvH by Diane Ackerman  (aphasia)
• Don’t Leave Me This Way: Or When I Get Back on My Feet You’ll Be Sorry by Julia Fox Garrison   (RCVA)
• The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery   by Sam Kean   (neuro)
• The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science  by Norman Doidge  (neuro)
• My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor  (neuro)
• Where is the Mango Princess? A Journey Back from Brain Injury  by Cathy Crimmins  (TBI)
• Concussion by Jeanne Marie Laskas  (TBI) ​

Leave a Comment: Which books are your favorites? Which books should I add to the list?

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Check out our latest recommendations for Early Intervention. This section features books for Speech Delay, Apraxia, Articulation, Memory Care, Stroke Rehabilitation and more.

R Sounds, S Sounds and Articulation Practice Galore! Check out our top recommendations in the area your working on at home. 

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Speech Pathology: Books

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A selection of some of the best children’s books for encouraging speech and language development in young children. Use the filter function to search for specific speech and language goals within these books.

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Children’s Books for Speech Therapy: The Ultimate List

If you are a speech-language pathologist searching for the best children’s books for speech therapy, check out this blog post! Using books during speech therapy sessions provide a fun way to target articulation and language goals. This article explains why SLPs might use children’s books in speech therapy. Additionally, it provides suggestions for how to use books in speech therapy, as well as suggestions for actual books that target a variety of speech and language skills. There are books listed by target speech sound. Additionally, there are book suggestions for vocabulary development, story retell, sequencing, spatial concepts, wordless picture books, imitating actions, gestures, and sounds, and books that promote diversity and inclusion. Finally, this blog post provides links to 5 websites that SLPs or other educators might use to access free digital libraries. 

This post contains affiliate links, which means we could receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.

Why Speech Pathologists Use Children’s Books in Speech Therapy

Books are such a wonderful tool to use with children who have language delays. In fact, shared book reading has been found to have a  positive impact on receptive and expressive language skills . 

When we read books aloud to children, we are exposing them to a ton of new vocabulary that they wouldn’t typically hear in conversation! The more exposure and direct instruction children have to new vocabulary words ( especially  tier II vocabulary words), the better! Think about it: how often would your students hear the word ‘huddle’ in their day to day? But exposure to new vocabulary will also help increase literacy skills!  SLPs also know how important vocabulary instruction is, and that it needs to be interactive and fun. Students have to be able to do more than spit out definitions. They need to actually make connections between words and their meanings .

In addition to encouraging vocabulary development, books also provide a wonderful way to increase narrative skills. Skills like retelling stories, summarizing, and sequencing can be directly taught through appropriate children’s books.

Books can also be a fantastic tool for targeting comprehension goals. 

Speech sound targets can be addressed using books as well during speech therapy sessions.

Finally, books provide a fun way to keep kids engaged during speech therapy sessions. 

How To Use Books in a Speech Therapy Session

It’s easy to incorporate books in a speech therapy session! Engaging stories encourage language learning. Children’s books are a wonderful way to target a variety of speech and language objectives.  

Here are some ideas that school SLPs could try during therapy sessions in academic settings or outpatient speech therapy:

• Identify tier II vocabulary in the book. Discuss the definitions of unknown vocabulary terms both before, and during, a story read-aloud. Have the students write target vocabulary words on index cards, and draw pictures or write sentences to pair with that definition.
• Incorporate the strategy of dialogic reading into your story read-aloud. 
• Find any target word that pairs with a specific speech sound. Write those words on a dry-erase board while reading, then review them after the story read aloud.
• Discuss any figurative language while reading a story aloud.
• Sort pictures related to the book into different categories. For example, if reading The Little Blue Truck, one might sort farm animal pictures and vehicle pictures into separate piles.
• Answer comprehension questions about the story.
• Review the story grammar elements using a graphic organizer (plot, setting, point of view, characters, and conflict). 
• Have students retell the story using their own words. Provide a list of transition words to help them out. 
• Describe story characters or objects using a multisensory tool, such as the Expanding Expression Toolkit. 

The Best Children’s Books for Speech Sounds and Articulation Therapy

Did you know that children with  speech sound disorders sometimes struggle with storytelling? That can be an issue because storytelling and reading success go hand in hand ! 

SLPs can incorporate literacy into speech therapy sessions while targeting articulation. There are too many book options to list! 

The best part is that, typically, you can use (almost) any book of your choice to target any speech sound. If the text doesn’t directly state words with the target sound, then we describe what we see in the picture using our target sound. 

Still, it can be super nice to have a set of books that target specific speech sounds in your therapy room. Check out the following books for articulation therapy:

P Sound-Loaded Books

“Peek a Who” by Nina Laden

“The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen

“Pig the Pug” by Aaron Blabey 

B Sound-Loaded Books

“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

“Bear Snores On” by Karma Wilson

T Sound-Loaded Books

“The Tiptoeing Tiger” by Philippa Leathers

“Ten Apples Up on Top!” by Dr. Seuss

D Sound-Loaded Books

“Five Little Ducks” by Raffi

“Dinosaur Dig” by Penny Dale

K Sound-Loaded Books

“Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin

“Whose Chick Are You?” by Nancy Tafuri 

G Sound-Loaded Books

“Giggle, Giggle, Quack” by Doreen Cronin

“Gooey Gummy Geese” by Angela Holzer

F Sound-Loaded Books

“The Foot Book” by Dr. Seuss

“Hooray for Fish” by Lucy Cousins

TH Sound-Loaded Books

“The Tooth Book” by Dr. Seuss

“The Mighty Thor” by Billy Wrecks

S Sound-Loaded Books

“The Seals on the Bus” by Lenny Hort

“Silly Sally” by Audrey Wood

S-Blend Sound-Loaded Books

“Sneezy the Snowman” by Maureen Wright

“There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Spoon” by Lucille Colandro

“The Snail and the Whale” by Julia Donaldson

SH Sound-Loaded Books

“Sheep in a Jeep” by Nancy Shaw

“Sheep Blast Off!” by Nancy Shaw

“Sheep in a Shop” by Nancy Shaw

CH Sound-Loaded Books

“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

J (DJ) Sound-Loaded Books

“Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae

“Jump” by Scott M. Fisher

R and R Blend Sound-Loaded Books

“Raccoon on His Own” by Jim Arnosky

“Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson

L and L Blend Sound-Loaded Books

“Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney

“There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” by Lucille Colandro  

Top Childrens Books for Vocabulary Development

Books can provide engaging ways to target vocabulary knowledge and depth.

Have you checked out the ‘Bear’ series by Karma Wilson? If you haven’t, you absolutely need to!

Karma Wilson is one of my favorite children’s book authors. These are the best books for working on vocabulary development! This is because tier II vocabulary words are included in these engaging books for younger students! Tier II vocabulary words are high-frequency words that are important to target during your speech therapy session. Tier II vocabulary words are not super common in everyday conversations, but are not as specific as content-area vocabulary.

One of the best books in the ‘Bear’ series is  Bear Feels Scared , but check out any that you see!  Some tier II vocabulary words in “Bear Feels Scared” include “scared”, “huddle”, “tremble”, “quake”, “shiver” and “worry”.  Check out this blog post to learn how to target learning new vocabulary in speech therapy . 

Another great Karma Wilson book is “ Bear Wants More “. Some tier II vocabulary words that a speech therapist could target during a speech and language session might include “ravenous”, “wriggle”, “gobble”, “drowsy”, “gorge”, and “sniff”. 

Best Story Retell Children’s Books

Little Blue Truck  is a classic book featuring a friendly blue truck and different animals that share in his adventure. In this story, Little Blue takes the time to be a friend to many farm animals and help others out (including a grumpy dump truck). Little kids find the illustrations and rhyming lines enchanting! Repetitive books are fun, as your students can help repeat lines as the story goes on. This book is a fun way to work on narrative sequence and animal sounds! 

Tomie DePaola is another children’s author to check out. My favorite is  The Knight and The Dragon . This book is really fun for obtaining language samples because although there are words, there are many pages that are illustrations-only and encourage children to talk about the story! The best part about this story is the unlikely best friends that pair up in the end! 

P.S. Want to learn how to best  assess preschool narrative skills ? Some research indicates that interactive conversations with your younger students are the preferred way to do this! 

My Favorite Children’s Books for Spatial Concepts 

A speech language pathologist will want to try reading  “Where’s Spot?”  by Eric Hill when targeting spatial concepts. This book is engaging for younger learners working on early language development. The book contains a lift-the-flap component to keep kids interested! 

Rosie’s Walk  by Pat Hutchins is a great book for teaching prepositions to younger children. In this story, a hen goes for a walk while being trailed by a sneaky fox! There are tons of opportunities for discussing spatial vocabulary during a speech therapy session while looking at the pictures in this book! 

An additional children’s book that targets spatial concepts (prepositions) using colorful dogs is the classic book  Go, Dog. Go!  by P.D. Eastman . And since children of all ages love animals, a good dog book is always a win in speech therapy! 

Wordless Picture Books for Speech Therapy

Want to try using some wordless picture books? These provide a perfect way to target all sorts of objectives in articulation and language therapy! 

One of my favorite wordless picture books is  Chalk by Bill Thompson . Students can help tell the story while looking at the different pictures. Your students can practice using target words in a variety of sentence structures. Try writing a target word, like a conjunction, on a sticky note. Stick it onto a page and see if your student can come up with a sentence to describe the picture using that target word. 

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney is another fantastic option. It includes beautifully-drawn illustrations. This story tells the tale of a lion who spares a mouse. The mouse then goes on to help free the lion later in the story. 

Another wordless picture book series is the Wimmelbooks. There are no words, but each page has a TON of exciting action and characters. Younger students could simply label action words. Older students can follow characters from page to page and tell a story. Check out  My Big Wimmelbook: Dinosaurs  or  My Big Wimmelbook- Cars and Things That Go . 

Books for Imitating Actions, Gestures, Sounds, and Exclamations

SLPs know how  gesture development is an important precursor to language development ! That’s why it’s important to incorporate imitating gestures into your therapy session. 

I love the simple illustrations in the Leslie Patricelli board books that are just so engaging for my younger students! These are wonderful, quick books for working on expressive language or a speech disorder. Though advertised as toddler books, my younger preschoolers still loved them! These were wonderful books for my preschool students with special needs. I paired them with gestures and exclamations. Check out the silly book  Yummy, Yucky  to get started. Your students can imitate a thumbs up, or thumbs down gesture, and practice exclamations like “ewww!” 

Hoping to try books written by SLP authors? One great pick is  The Big Book of Exclamations , written by Teri Kaminski Peterson and Chris McAllister. Bonus- they’ve also written a part two ( Talk with Me! The Big Book of Exclamations 2 ). Young children will be engaged by this interactive book, and it’s easy to modify language modeling based on a child’s ability. 

Dear Zoo   is such a great book and another classic! It is sturdy and contains interactive, “lift the flap” features. Work on labeling animals, animal sounds, and other language or imitation skills. This board book will be a favorite for young children.

Top Children’s Speech Therapy Books for Sequencing

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  This is a classic book by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle that a speech therapist might try out in therapy! The unique illustrations and engaging rhythm are very appealing to young children.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar  by Eric Carle is a wonderful way to discuss the life cycles of butterflies! The beautiful transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is very enchanting for children to see, and the illustrations are a hit. If you happen to own a felt board,   check out these Very Hungry Caterpillar felt board pieces  that can be paired with the story. This book provides a great way to work on vocabulary, sequencing, and more! 

Another personal favorite is  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie  by Laura Numeroff . In fact, my SLP coworkers and I even dressed up as characters from the Laura Numeroff book series one year at Halloween! This is a classic story that is fun and engaging and can easily be used to address sequencing skills. 

The Mitten by Jan Brett is another great children’s book that can be used to target sequence of events! Nicki loses his mitten in the snow, but many grateful animals soon snuggle inside to stay warm.

The Best Interactive Books for Speech Therapy

Are you wanting to use interactive books in speech therapy? My favorite books, both written by Bill Cotter, include  Don’t Push the Button!  and  Don’t Push the Button: A Halloween Treat!   These fun books will have your students shaking the book, pushing buttons, and shouting when instructed- and of course, they’ll be giggling the entire time! 

Another fun interactive book option that speech language pathologists could recommend that parents try at bedtime is  Touch the Brightest Star  by Christie Matheson . 

Best Children’s Books for Speech Therapy that Promote Diversity and Inclusion

Check out   Max and the Tag-Along Moon  by Floyd Cooper ! This is a comforting story about a little boy and his grandpa. The swervy-curvy car ride home and the beautiful text and illustrations will make this story a favorite in your speech therapy room! 

The children’s book  Last Stop on Market Street  by Matt de la Peña is absolutely worth checking out! In this story, a boy and his grandmother take a bus ride after church through a busy city. Along the way, he meets many diverse people. At his final stop, his grandmother encourages him to see the beauty in his surroundings. 

All Are Welcome  by Alexandra Penfold is a wonderful book where children from all backgrounds go to a school that promotes love and inclusion. It promotes being kind to all, despite our differences. 

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales has the most beautiful illustrations! This is the inspiring true story of the author who immigrated to the United States with her son. They had to be resilent and faced times of confusion and lonliness in a new country. They discovered the public library and an enthusiastic love for books and reading, which allowed them to have hope and finally feel at home.

Best Books for Upper Elementary

In case you missed it, I reviewed my f avorite books for upper elementary students in a previous post . In that post, I provided suggestions for how to use books in speech therapy with older students. I also provided a list of my absolute favorite books to use with 4th and 5th graders. Make sure to check it out! 

5 Websites with Free Digital Libraries for SLPs and Educators

Although I always prefer a hard copy of a book if possible, it doesn’t hurt to know how to access a digital copy! This is especially important for a busy speech pathologist who travels between buildings.

Here are a list of websites or apps that school SLPs and educators might wish to check out for free digital copies of books:

• Open Library is one possible option for SLPs or other educators ( https://openlibrary.org/ )
• Project Gutenberg has a library of over 70,000 free e-books! ( https://www.gutenberg.org/ )
• Check out Storyline Online, which features videos with well-known actors reading stories aloud ( https://www.storylineonline.net/ )
• Epic! is a must-check out digital library site that is free for educators! ( https://www.getepic.com/ )
• Check out Bookshare, a federally-funded library of ebooks that is FREE for educators! ( https://www.bookshare.org/ )

Incorporating Yoga and Children’s Books into Speech Therapy Sessions

Speech pathologists can pair this yoga mat book companion with any book. It’s the perfect way to target story retell and story elements!

First, your student will listen to the story. Then, he will identify the characters, setting, and problem. He will additionally describe events in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Finally, your student will explain the solution to the problem and identify any lessons learned from the story.

After each part of the story retell task, your student will complete a yoga pose!

In summary, Speech-Language Pathologists often use children’s books in speech therapy. Books can provide an engaging way to promote language skills, speech sound skills, and literacy. SLPs might wish to target a variety of speech and language objectives using a book during a speech therapy session.

Scroll up to read a list of suggested books sorted by target goal area for speech therapy. Finally, SLPs might wish to access free digital libraries in addition to reading paper copies of the best children’s books. 

Speech therapists may also wish to read about  the best books for 4th and 5th graders .

Related SLP Articles:

• BEST Books for Speech Therapy: 4th and 5th Grade
• 30 Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy (Based on Research)
• 15 Best Speech Therapy Board Games for Younger Students   

Related SLP Resource:

• Yoga Mat Book Companion (for ANY book)

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Toroidally focused ultrasonic flaw detectors

• Acoustic Methods
• Published: 28 July 2011
• Volume 47 , pages 308–310, ( 2011 )

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• A. V. Shevelev 1 &
• Zh. V. Zatsepilova 2  

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New-type toroidally focused ultrasonic flaw detectors, whose application provides an appreciable increase in the flaw detection rate with retention of high sensitivity to flaws, are considered. The construction of a flaw detector is presented, the sizes of a gauge for the formation of the toroidal surface of a lens are given, and the technology of the manufacturing of a toroidal lens is described.

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Ermolov, I.N., Aleshin, N.P., and Potapov, A.I., Nerazrushayushchii control’ (Nondestructive Testing), book 2: Akusticheskie metody kontrolya (Acoustic Testing), Moscow: Vysshaya shkola, 1991.

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Nerazrushayushchii kontrol’ (Spravochnik) (Nondestructive Testing: Handbook), Klyuev, V.V., Ed., vol. 3: Ul’trazvukovoi kontrol’ (Ultrasonic Testing), Moscow: Mashinostroenie, 2006.

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Elektrostal Polytechnic Institute, Branch of the National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, ul. Pervomaiskaya 7, Elektrostal, Moscow oblast, 144000, Russia

A. V. Shevelev

Elektrostal Heavy Engineering Plant JSC, ul. Krasnaya 19, Elektrostal, Moscow oblast, 144005, Russia

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Original Russian Text © A.V. Shevelev, Zh.V. Zatsepilova, 2011, published in Defektoskopiya, 2011, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 19–22.

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Shevelev, A.V., Zatsepilova, Z.V. Toroidally focused ultrasonic flaw detectors. Russ J Nondestruct Test 47 , 308–310 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830911050093

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Received : 14 January 2011

Published : 28 July 2011

Issue Date : May 2011

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830911050093

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